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2021 BMW M3 Oversized Kidney Grille Criticized by Doug DeMuro

At the beginning of February 2021, BMW's design boss told Top Gear that “20 percent of people like the grille” of the 4 Series, M3, M4, and iX. Domagoj Dukec also had the audacity to say, “it’s not our goal to please everyone,” which is a rather questionable approach to growing the German automaker’s market share over Mercedes-Benz and AMG.
2021 BMW M3 Doug DeMuro review 161 photos
Photo: Doug DeMuro on YouTube
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Auto vlogger Doug DeMuro isn’t a fan of the ginormous kidneys either, describing them as cartoonish. “Aside from the grille, this car is gorgeous. This might be the most attractive M3 ever if it wasn’t for the grille.”

BMW has also made a mistake by flaring the wheel arches and not continuing the flares on the doors, which gives the sports sedan an it-will-do vibe. It will do isn’t good enough for a $70,000 car, especially the one hailed as the best in the segment. Aside from these niggles, Doug can’t help but like the G80-generation M3 from other angles and from behind the wheel.

DeMuro also makes a point about the aural pleasure of a straight-six engine over the plug-in hybrid Mercedes-AMG C 63 for 2022, which is going to swap the V8 of the outgoing model for a four-pot yawner. Torquier and more powerful than its predecessor, the M3 features a six-speed stick shift as the sole transmission for the base 473-horsepower variant.

Level up to the 503-horsepower Competition, and BMW switches to an eight-speed automatic of the torque-converter variety. On top of that, customers are offered a choice between RWD and AWD with rear-wheel-drive mode. More technologized than any M3 before it, “the whole tech is just a little bit behind some of the luxury rivals,” according to DeMuro.

And finally, care to guess how the G80 drives on the road? This rear-driven base model “feels so rewarding to drive” because of its rev-matching manual transmission and “very fast” in a straight line thanks to a lot of torque available from low engine speeds. As for the twisty stuff, “the car feels very immediate. The steering and handling feel fantastic.”

That grille, though...

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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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